


Midnight Poppy Land One-Shots

by hubdub15



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Shower Sex, Smut, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:40:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22570387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hubdub15/pseuds/hubdub15
Summary: Just a short collection of one-shots I had rattling around in my head.This work was previously called "A Smaller Dog", but I changed the title so I could add one-shots to this work that didn't necessarily have anything to do with Rocky, although they will still appear here.
Relationships: Poppy/Tora
Comments: 46
Kudos: 267





	1. A Smaller Dog

They had planned on getting a smaller dog. 

It had just been a few weeks before when Tora had revealed he had never had a dog, but had wanted one when he was a kid. Mr. Batlthuman didn’t allow Tora or Quincy to have a dog, saying they had more important responsibilities to focus on rather than an animal with “no long-term benefits”. But once Tora and Poppy had moved in together and she realized how often Tora was gone during the evenings, she had suggested getting a dog to keep her company while he was working. When Tora didn’t protest, Poppy had taken them both to the Narin City Animal Shelter the following weekend to find a dog. Cats were out of the question. Poppy had never seen Tora so entirely against an idea as when he insisted they were not getting a ‘fuckin’ cat’. 

“Do you see any you like?” Poppy asked Tora as they walked down the last row of dog cages. She looked over to him as he shrugged, turning to look at the dog in the cage to his left. He had been silent the entire time they were in there, grunting in response whenever the volunteer asked him a question directly. Poppy would give the volunteer a smile and respond for her stoic boyfriend. 

“Most of the dogs in this row have been here for a very long time. It’s horrible to accept, but they’ll probably be put down within the next few days. We just can’t find proper homes for them. They’re either too old, or they have behavioral problems where they can’t be placed in a normal home, or most of our foster homes.” The volunteer explained, a nice-looking woman in her mid-30s, who immediately had a small frown on her face when she saw Tora. Poppy had chosen to ignore the volunteer’s bias and instead focus on the task at hand. She couldn’t control how other people saw Tora. She knew who he really was. 

“I think we can handle some behavioral problems, don’t you think?” Poppy asked. It wasn’t the first time she had ever had a dog, and Tora knew how to give orders. She blushed slightly as she remembered the orders he was giving her last night. 

When Tora didn’t respond, Poppy looked behind her to see he had stopped in front of the cage he had looked at before to reach his hand through the openings in the chain-link. 

“Sir, you shouldn’t—” The assistant’s eyes widened when she saw the cage Tora had stopped at, and how he had his hand through as far as it would go, but she stopped short when she saw the dog had his front paws up against the cage door, panting happily at the attention Tora was giving him. 

“Who’s this?” Poppy smiled, walking up to Tora and threading her arm through his. He looked over at her and dropped the hand that was scratching the dog’s chin and put it in his pocket. The dog jumped down and looked up at Poppy and Tora, turning in a circle and wagging his stumpy tail. 

The large dog had scars running all over its muzzle and front paws, almost unnoticeable against its black fur, but there were so many of them, they stood out. There was a large notch out of one of his ears, obviously a result of his time in the ring. It was bigger than most of the other dogs in the pound, his head reaching Tora’s hips, which meant he was massive compared to Poppy. 

“That’s Rocky. He was rescued from an illegal dog fighting ring in the Ares Street district. He’s been in a few homes so far, but he’s always been returned.” The volunteer paused long enough for Poppy to wonder what she was holding back. “He’s had some aggression issues, mostly food guarding. He’s also not as well trained as some of the other dogs in here.”

Poppy crouched down in front of the cage and stuck her fingers through, smiling as Rocky licked them. “He seems fine to me.”

“Honestly, this is the first time I’ve seen him let anyone touch him without putting up a fight or having a muzzle on.” The volunteer took the clipboard off the cage door and studied it. “He has all his shots and he’s fixed. He needs a home without kids or other pets, for now. If you—

“We’ll take him.”

Poppy looked up at Tora as he finally spoke. He ignored the volunteer’s protests as he opened the cage door, letting Rocky out of his cage for what Poppy was sure was the first time in a very long time. The dog bounded around Poppy and Tora like a puppy, practically shaking with excitement at finally being out. 

“Are you sure?” Poppy looked between Tora and Rocky. He was a lot bigger than they both had been expecting. She wasn’t even sure if Mrs. Haru would allow a dog that big in their apartment building. Would she even be able to walk him? But when he sat—more like plopped—in front of Poppy, his tongue lolling out to the side, that was it. This was their dog.

Tora nodded, pulling out his wallet and finally looking at the volunteer as he began to count out bills. “How much?”

“Well, we have a process for all our adoptions, which includes a home visit...” The volunteer trailed off when Tora held up a sizable stack. “But you two seem like dependable people. I’ll get the paperwork drawn up.” 

Once the volunteer had disappeared around the corner, Poppy took Tora’s arm, holding it to her chest with both hands while she smiled. “You were just waiting to do that, weren’t you?”

“No other way to get her to shut up.” Tora smirked down at her. “I don’t think that collar ya brought is going to be big enough.”

Poppy reached into her bag and brought the sparkly black collar out, frowning slightly. They had definitely planned on getting a smaller dog. “Maybe we could trade them for a bigger one.”

“No need. We’ll go out and get everything later.” He began to lead her down the aisle and out towards the front desk with Rocky following. “Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm horrible at endings. Please let me know what you all think! Thanks for reading ~


	2. Marked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proofread this very closely, so please forgive me if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. 
> 
> There is mention of domestic abuse in here. Please read at your own discretion.

“Darn it.” Poppy muttered. She had been standing at their apartment door for the last minute, trying to juggle the grocery bags in her arms while unlocking the front door. With a huff, she finally dropped the bags to the floor and put all her focus on getting the stuck key to turn. She debated banging on the door to see if Tora was home, so he could open the door for her, but she didn’t want to look like a lunatic knocking on her own apartment door if it turned out he wasn’t home from work yet. Even if he was, she was going to do this herself. It was personal now. 

“Poppy!”

She looked away from her task to her right and saw Mrs. Haru coming down the hallway, wearing her signature apron and house shoes. The older woman’s usually cheery countenance had been replaced by worry as she walked as quickly as she could towards Poppy. Before Poppy could even get a word of hello out, Mrs. Haru was speaking. 

“I heard a shout from your apartment yesterday as I was coming home from service. Are you okay?” Her eyes focused on the purple splotch on the right side of Poppy’s collarbone. “That looks nasty. How did that happen?”

“Oh! I, um...I was trying to get something off a shelf in the kitchen and it fell and landed on my shoulder. I can barely feel it.” Poppy tried her hardest not to blush as she answered. She couldn’t tell Mrs. Haru the truth about how she exactly got the dark purple mark on her shoulder, or why she had heard a shout from their apartment. Poppy was sure she might go straight to hell if she told sweet Mrs. Haru just exactly why she heard shouting, and how Poppy got the bruise on her shoulder. She had tried to find a shirt to cover the mark, but all the shirts that could have covered the mark had mysteriously disappeared. 

Mrs. Haru frowned, and her eyes dropped down to the long red scratch on Poppy’s arm. “Oh, dear. Did that dog do that?”

Poppy held back a frown when Mrs. Haru referred to Rocky as “that dog”. It wasn’t a secret that ever since Tora and Poppy had brought Rocky home almost a year ago that Mrs. Haru was not his biggest fan. She had taken one look at him and decided she didn’t like him, without even properly meeting him. She was convinced it was Tora that had wanted Rocky, and Poppy had been forced to go along with it, because how could someone as sweet and innocent as Poppy want a scary dog like that? 

Poppy didn’t feel the need to explain her dog to Mrs. Haru, since it wouldn’t change anything. He had gotten overly-excited when Poppy had gotten home after a long night of editing and as they were greeting each other, his nail had accidentally caught Poppy’s arm and made the scratch in question. It wasn’t intentional. They had worked a lot with Rocky, and now he behaved better than most dogs, but most people still couldn’t look past his exterior. One look at his scars and they didn’t want to hear about him sitting by the front door whenever one of them left, waiting for them to get back. 

“You know you can always tell me if something is...going on, Poppy. You don’t have to feel stuck.” Mrs. Haru’s voice broke Poppy from her thoughts. 

“What are you talking about?” Poppy demanded. 

Mrs. Haru leaned closer and rested a hand on Poppy’s arm. “If your boyfriend is hurting you, you don’t have to be afraid to tell someone. You can tell me. We can go to the station together.”

Poppy felt her face pale at her words. Mrs. Haru and Tora had never gotten along, even before Tora had moved in. She loved to create these wild fantasies in her head, and one look at Tora had convinced her the big scary gangster was forcing Poppy into a relationship against her will for his own sick pleasure. No matter how many times she tried to assuage Mrs. Haru’s fears that she was in danger, the older woman would not listen. She immediately jumped to the worse-case scenario in every situation, but Poppy had never expected her to assume Tora, _her Tora_ , was hurting her. 

She rolled her shoulder backwards so Mrs. Haru’s hand fell down and took a step back. “My _husband_ isn’t abusing me, Mrs. Haru. And I’d appreciate you keeping any other assumptions about him or our relationship to yourself.” Poppy didn’t give her a chance to respond as she finally turned the key in the lock and picked up her bags, disappearing into her apartment with a slam of the door. 

Once she was safely inside the apartment, Poppy set her bags down again to bury her face in her hands, taking several shaking breaths. She shouldn’t let people’s words affect her so easily. It didn’t matter what Mrs. Haru thought. She had no say over Poppy’s life, and she couldn’t affect her life with Tora at all. Even if she went to the police herself with allegations of abuse, Poppy doubted anyone in the police force, besides Inspector Lane, would have the guts to go to Tora and ask him directly. 

It didn’t matter what they thought, but when it began to pile up, or when someone jumped to the worst conclusion like Mrs. Haru just had, it was all Poppy could do to not lock herself, Tora, and Rocky in their apartment and shut the rest of the world out, to keep all of their negative thoughts away. 

“You there?” 

She looked up at the sound of Tora’s voice carrying from around the corner in the kitchen. With another calming breath, Poppy picked up the bags at her sides and followed the sound of Tora’s voice. She found him sitting on the kitchen floor in front of Rocky, a piece of cooked chicken sitting between them. Tora had his eyes trained on Rocky, while Rocky was staring intently at the chicken in between them. 

“What are you doing?” She asked, setting the grocery bags down on the kitchen table. 

“Training.” Tora answered simply. “We’ve been like this for five minutes.” 

“Is that from our dinner last night?” Poppy asked, noticing the container on the kitchen table. 

“I wasn’t about to make more chicken just for this when we have some in the fridge.” Tora frowned. When he glanced up at Poppy, Rocky’s head began to lower to grab the food. “Leave it.” The dog straightened back up and broke his focus to look at Poppy, his stumpy tail wagging on the floor. When he looked away, Tora gave him a piece of meat from his hand and picked what was left off the floor. 

Poppy watched as Tora stood and stretched his arms over his head, revealing a strip of skin just above his waistband that made the back of her neck feel hot. She tried to turn away and focus on putting their groceries away before Tora could notice, but he caught her eye with a smirk. 

“Like the show?”

“Y-you wish.” Poppy stuttered, giving herself away as dropped to her knees to give Rocky a proper greeting. The dog’s entire body shook as Poppy rubbed him behind his ears and tried to avoid his slobbering kisses as best she could.“Can you start putting those away?”

He grabbed one of the bags without a word and moved towards the fridge to empty its contents. “I picked up that special cleaning stuff ya like on the way home, so ya don’t have to go back out just for it.” He told her nonchalantly. 

Poppy felt tears start to well up in her eyes and tried to her best to keep them from spilling over. She was overcome with how much Tora cared, and how completely opposite their life was than what Mrs. Haru thought. Her husband going out of his way to pick something up she knew he thought was ridiculous, because he had told her as such, but still doing it because he knew it was what she wanted and it would make her happy. And their over one-hundred pound killing machine, who was obviously the most dangerous dog to ever walk the earth, was currently splayed out on the ground in front of Poppy, whining when she stopped rubbing his belly to wipe at her eyes. 

She could feel Tora’s eyes on her. “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She winced at how short her answer was. If she was trying to connive him nothing was wrong, she was doing a bang-up job of it. She stood and turned her attention to the groceries still on the table, beginning to sort them out. She couldn’t tell Tora about what happened. They butted heads whenever they had the misfortune of running into each other, and she was sure if she told Tora about what had happened in the hallway and how much Mrs. Haru’s words had bothered her, Tora would be making his way down to the landlady’s apartment to have a chat. Poppy didn’t want their already tense relationship any more strained. 

“Was that you yelling in the hallway?” 

“I wasn’t yelling. I just...” Poppy sighed. “It’s nothing.”

Poppy heard Tora moving to her side and a moment later, he had his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest. She sighed slightly as he trailed kisses down the column of her throat. 

“Didn’t look that bad last night.” Tora kissed lightly over the hickey on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I tried to find a shirt to cover it, but all of them had disappeared.” Poppy craned her neck to look at Tora. “Do you know anything about that?”

“Nope. Weird.” Tora placed another gentle kiss on the hickey before resting his chin on her shoulder while she continued to sort. “Was it Mrs. Haru?”

She turned to look at him and saw the hard expression on his face. He already knew the answer without her even having to say it. She turned around in his arms and rested her hands on either side of his face, rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone. “It’s fine, really.” 

“It’s not fine if you’re crying.” He retorted. 

“It bothered me a little bit when we were talking, but I know there’s nothing I can do that will change her mind. And there’s nothing she can say that will make me leave you. You’re stuck with me.” Poppy told him. 

Tora smirked and bent down for a kiss, but Poppy turned her head so he only caught her cheek. “Not right now. We need to get all these groceries away and make dinner.”

“I made that noodle stuff for dinner.” 

Poppy’s eyes lit up and she bounced on her toes. “Really?” 

“What’re you doing?” He asked as Poppy put her hands on the back of his neck, trying to pull him down to her level to kiss him.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Poppy tugged at his neck harder. “Bend down!”

“Gotta ask nicer than that.” Tora smirked. “I thought we didn’t have time.”

“Fine then.” Poppy huffed, letting him go. “Be that way.” 

Just as she was about to walk away, Tora’s hands were on her hips again, pulling her back and lifting her up onto the kitchen table. She let our a sharp gasp but it was quickly muffled as Tora slanted his mouth over hers in a deep kiss, his hands reaching down to squeeze her backside and pull her closer so no space was between them. 

“Tora…” Poppy moaned as his lips started moving down her neck. She felt him start sucking at the sensitive skin there and knew exactly what he was doing. “Tora!”

She pushed him back quickly and smacked him in the chest as he laughed. Her hand flew up to her neck where his lips just were. “Did you leave a mark?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Tora placed his hands on the table behind Poppy and leaned down to whisper in Poppy’s ear. His breath tickled Poppy’s skin and made her shiver in the best way. “Let’s everyone know you’re mine.” 

Poppy didn’t want it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Let me know what you think. Until next time~


	3. Reference for Rocky

If any of you were wondering what Rocky looks like--just solid black and not brindle like this.   
  
Next one-shot should be up sometime next week, as well as the next chapter for Fight for You. If you have any prompts for this one-shot series, send them my way!


	4. Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, just a disclaimer. I don't write smut that often, but I'm trying to get better at it. If you have suggestions on how I can improve, please let me know. 
> 
> Also, Poppy may seem a little OOC to some of you in this chapter, but based on the restaurant scene, I don’t think poppy’s as submissive as some might think 😉
> 
> For those of you that didn't see the previous chapter, it's a reference picture for Rocky!

“Tora! Watch out—

Before Poppy could finish her sentence, Tora had tripped over an errant tree root and landed face first in a large patch of mud while chasing Rocky. Poppy’s hand flew to her mouth, trying to suppress laughter as Rocky kept running away from Tora. 

They were at the dog park closest to their apartment early Sunday morning. They were working on getting Rocky socialized with other dogs, but they still preferred avoiding large crowds sometimes to just enjoy time together without every moment being training. This early in the morning, there were never any other dogs and owners, meaning Rocky had the entire yard to run around to his heart’s content. Once another owner had come with his dogs, Tora had decided it was time to leave. Rocky, however, had other ideas. 

“Fuckin’ dog.” Tora grumbled. 

“You were the one that wanted to take him to the dog park.” Poppy reminded him. “Then mean dad wanted him to go home.” She looked across the large yard and saw Rocky was standing at the fence, looking back at two of them. She whistled for him and smiled as Rocky immediately came running back over to her, stopping in front of her while his whole body wagged. She kneeled down in front of him, rubbing him all over his head and laughing when Rocky licked her chin. 

“You’re such a good boy.” Poppy cooed. As Rocky was distracted, Poppy reached around and clipped his leash on. “Looks like I’m the favorite today.”

“Yeah yeah.” Tora rolled his eyes. “Help me up.” Poppy walked over to Tora and stood at the edge, reaching a hand out to drag him up. When he had a hand around her wrist, he gave a sharp tug towards him. 

“Hey!” Poppy lost her balance and fell on her hands and knees into the mud pit. Tora wrapped his arms tightly around her, smearing mud all down her front as he rolled so she was under him with her back pressing further into the mud. “TORA!”

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Tora brought a muddy hand up to cup her face. “Looks like ya got something there.” 

“Get off me!” Poppy pushed against his immovable chest. “No! Stay.” She ordered when Rocky started to follow them into the mud. Rocky hated water, and if he got dirty, it would either take a whole week to get him fully clean, or Tora would end up with another black eye from head butting him while trying to give him a bath. 

Tora kissed her and finally let go, allowing Poppy to stand up and attempt to wipe the mud of her clothes, only managing to smear it around and get even more caked under her fingernails. She grabbed Rocky’s leash and stomped towards the gate as he laughed after her. 

She was sure they probably looked crazy walking back to their apartment, two owners completely covered in mud while their dog was clean. Poppy walked ahead of Tora the entire way and didn’t wait for him to enter the apartment before closing the door behind her. She unclipped Rocky’s leash as Tora entered a moment later. 

“Are ya really mad?” Tora crossed his arms when she looked at him. “It’s just mud.”

Poppy glared at him in response. “I’m going to take a shower. _Alone_.” She stalked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, stripping out of her muddy, and probably now ruined, clothes and leaving them on the floor before turning on the water to the shower and stepping in. The mud had dried, caking her hair and making it difficult to undo her braid. Squirting some shampoo into it, she started to rub it into her hair when the bathroom door opened. She pulled the curtain back, frowning when she saw Tora locking the door behind him. 

“I told you to wait until I was done.” Poppy frowned.

“Can’t. I’m chafing.” Poppy watched hungrily as Tora stripped down to nothing and stepped into the shower with her. She wasn’t going to be able to stay mad with him for long looking like that and standing just a foot away. 

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you pulled _both_ of us into the mud.” 

“You gotta keep the water so fuckin’ hot?” He frowned and reached around her to grab his all-in-one atrocity off the ledge behind her to wash his hair.

“It feels good.” Poppy argued. “If you don’t like it, you can wait until I’m done.” 

She turned back around to face the water stream and continued to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. She gasped when she felt Tora’s hands on her hips, gently pulling her back until she was flush against him. She tilted her head to the side automatically when she felt his lips on her shoulder. 

“I’m kicking you out if you keep doing that.” Poppy sighed as he kissed up her shoulder to her neck. 

“I’d like to see ya try.” She could feel Tora’s cock press into the flesh of her backside as he rolled his hips against hers. _He knows exactly what he’s doing. I can’t resist him_. _But two can play at that game_. 

She pressed her hips back into his in response, desperate to get closer. Reaching a hand up, she placed it on the side of his neck and wrapped a hand in his wet hair, gripping it tightly to keep his head in place. Tora placed his hand over hers and loosened her grip. In a second, he had her spun around so their fronts were pressed together. Gripping her by her ass, Tora claimed a fierce kiss and lifted her up, turning them so her back was pressed into the tile on the wall. Poppy moaned into Tora’s mouth, allowing him access to dive in with his tongue. She wrapped her legs around his waist and whimpered when she felt his head already nudging at her entrance.

“Still wanna kick me out?” He whispered when he pulled back. 

“Oh shut up.” Poppy wrapped her arms around his shoulders, gripping her forearms to try to keep a hold on him. “Just kiss me.”

“Ya only want to kiss?” She felt Tora smiling against her skin as he bent down to kiss her neck again. “Gotta say, I’m a little disappointed. Ya don’t want to do anything else?”

Poppy tried to press her hips into his, needing feel him inside her, but Tora moved his hips back enough so she couldn’t feel him any more. “Really?” She panted, glaring at him. 

“Gotta tell me what ya want to do.” 

“I need—ah!” Poppy exclaimed when Tora partially entered into her. She lifted her hips to he could enter more deeply, but he withdrew again. “You’re a bully.” 

“I could say the same.” Tora took one nipple in his mouth, licking it roughly with the flat oh his tongue and making Poppy gasp. “Making me stay outside while you’re in here and I can’t show ya how sorry I am.” 

“You…you can’t use sex to get out of everything.” She panted, biting her lip as Tora began rubbing her clit. 

“I can’t?” Tora lifted his head and locked his golden gaze on her while he rubbed faster. “Ya sure?”

“Y-yes!” Poppy bit out, trying to keep her composure as Tora teased his head just barely inside her again. 

“Too bad.” Tora stepped back completely and let go of Poppy so her feet were back on the bathtub floor. “That was my plan all along.” With a wink, Tora stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel low around his hips, leaving the bathroom door open behind him. 

Poppy stood in shock for a moment. Did Tora just walk away from sex? She turned the water off and dried off just enough so she wasn’t dripping all over their apartment before rushing out of the bathroom after Tora. She found him in their bedroom, standing completely naked in front of the closet as he searched for something clean to wear. 

“Are you serious?” Poppy demanded. She was panting heavily, both from the temperature change from the bathroom to their bedroom and from Tora making her hot and bothered without following through. Tora turned to look at her and smirked.

“I am. Ya hurt my feelings. I was just trying to say sorry.” Tora turned and walked to the foot of their bed. “Can’t expect me to be nice when you’re being mean.” 

“ _I’m_ mean?” Poppy was incredulous. “You pulled me into a mud pit today!” 

Tora shrugged. “Wanted to see how hot you would look.”

Poppy stalked forward until she and Tora were chest to chest. Her breasts brushed against his abs and she clenched her muscles to try and control herself from climbing him like a tree right then. “Sit down.” She ordered, glaring up at him. 

“No.” 

“I said _sit down_.” Poppy pushed him hard in the chest so he stepped back and finally sat down on the edge of their bed. She looked down and saw that he was still as hard as a rock. _Good_. She climbed on top of him to straddle his lap, positioning him at her entrance. 

“Can’t use sex to get out of everything, Bobby.” Tora’s hands came up to rest on her waist. “Ya really hurt my feelings.” 

“So you don’t want to do this?” Poppy rested her hands on his shoulder andbent her head down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. 

“I didn’t say that.” Tora’s breath hitched as Poppy slowly lowered herself onto him, inch by inch. “God dammit, Bobby.” He gripped her hips and tried to thrust up into her, but Poppy raised herself up again. 

“Lay back.” Poppy pushed him back onto his back and took him by the wrists, placing them above his head near the headboard. “Don’t move.”

“Yes ma’am.” He smirked. Poppy let go of him and placed her hands on his chest to steady herself as she lowered herself completely onto Tora, sighing at the feeling of him stretching her while Tora groaned at Poppy tightening around him. She slowly moved her hips up and down on his cock, keeping a steady pace, both for her own prolonged pleasure and because she knew it would drive Tora crazy. She felt him lifting his hips to meet hers as she moved, trying to get deeper inside her. So far, he was sticking to her orders of not moving his hands from above his head. 

“Faster.” Tora grunted out, frowning when Poppy placed her hands on his abdomen to keep him from moving his hips to quicken her pace.

“No can do.” Poppy smiled. “I want to take it slow.”

“You’re testing me, sweetheart.” 

“Am I?” Poppy batted her eyelashes at him innocently. “Do you not like this?”

“Of course I do.” Tora gave her an evil smile. “But I can think of ways to make this better.” 

“Like what?” 

“Let me show you.” He reached up and wrapped his arms around her waist, sitting up and shifting to he was on his knees with Poppy still straddling him. Tora’s hands moved to her hips and guided her into a faster rhythm, pulling her down on top of him with every thrust to drive deeper inside of Poppy. She gasped at the feeling of Tora thrusting deeper inside her and rested her forehead in the crook of his neck, trying to keep up with his fast pace. 

“Damn, you feel so good.” Tora whispered in her ear. “You’re so tight and wet on my cock. You’re practically milking me, Bobby.” 

Poppy felt her her stomach twist tighter with arousal at Tora’s words. It didn’t matter how long they had been together, she still felt a thrill whenever he talked dirty to her. “Don’t…don’t stop.” She ordered. “Oh god, Tora, don’t stop.” Their skin slapped together as Tora continued to thrust into her from below, bouncing her up and down on his cock and taking full control over Poppy. 

“I ain’t even close.” Tora flipped them over so Poppy was now under him. He grabbed her leg and lifted it over his shoulder while he grabbed the other and hiked it higher on his hips, allowing him more room to move while he quickened his pace. He reached one arm underneath Poppy and lifted her closer to him to kiss her deeply and swallow her moans. 

It was all Poppy could do to hold onto Tora, trying to keep up with his pace while she lifted her hips to meet his, but it was almost impossible. He was going so fast that it only took a few more thrusts for Poppy to fall apart beneath him, crying out as her skin caught on fire. Tora didn’t last much longer, gripping her hips as he gave one last hard thrust and shot inside her before collapsing on top of Poppy, their skin sticking together from sweat.

“Guess we need to take another shower.” Poppy laughed breathlessly, kissing Tora’s cheek. Tora chuckled and lifted himself up onto his elbows, smiling faintly.

“Am I forgiven?” Tora asked, brushing some hair back from Poppy’s forehead. 

“Hmmm…maybe.” Poppy allowed. “Only if you do the laundry too.”

Tora frowned down at her. “Yeah, I think I’ll have you stay mad at me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Until next time ~


	5. Diamonds and Red Bottoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The smut in this chapter may not be for everyone. I wanted to practice writing dirty talk, so I went ham. If you're not a fan of dom/sub undertones, I wouldn't recommend reading this. 
> 
> Also, be warned, this chapter is a MONSTER. If you need to take a break halfway through, I'd recommend stopping at the cut-off, or set aside some time to read it in one go. It might take a while.
> 
> This is a completely AU scenario, but still set in the same universe as the rest of my one-shots. This would probably never happen, for reasons that will be made known later. 
> 
> Last but not least, a HUGE thank you to Emily for beta-reading this for me! Thanks for being my guinea pig. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“I don’t know what to wear. Tora said he’ll be wearing a tux.” Poppy told Erdene as she browsed through the racks of dresses, clutching Tora’s credit card protectively. He had told her to get whatever she wanted at the store, but she was uncomfortable having this much to spend. Erdene, however, had no reservations, and was happily pulling dresses worth thousands of dollars to show Poppy as if it were nothing. 

Tora had told her just last week that Vincent Balthuman was throwing a large party at his mansion and was insisting Poppy attend, now that she and Tora were married. She wasn’t exactly excited about going to the party, but she knew Tora was downright furious. He had been stomping around the apartment almost all week in a foul mood, upset that he couldn’t think of a reason Poppy shouldn’t go to the party. He didn’t like her anywhere near Balthuman or his clan activities. Tora suggested they fake divorce so Poppy wouldn’t have a reason to go, but his idea was quickly shut down when Poppy threw a shoe at his head. 

“Call Quincey. He’ll probably know what you should wear.” Erdene shrugged. “Besides, if Tora is wearing a tux, that means you at least have to wear a long dress.”

Poppy sighed. A long dress meant heels, since she had no time to get it hemmed. She picked up her phone and dialed Quincey’s number. He picked up on the second ring. 

“ _Poppy! To what do I owe the pleasure_?” She held the phone back slightly as Quincey almost yelled his greeting. “ _Did you finish going through my newest manuscript_?”

“No, Quincey, it’s six-hundred pages, and you gave it to me yesterday. Even I can’t read that fast.” Poppy told him. “I’m out shopping for a dress for your father’s party. What kind of dress should I look for?”

“ _Nothing from your closet, that’s for sure_.” 

“Excuse me?”

“ _Where are you shopping right now_?” 

“The shopping center near the office, in the fancy department store.”

“ _Define fancy_.” 

“I’m going to hang up, Quincey.”

“ _Don’t move, I’ll be right there_.” 

“What did he say?” Erdene asked when she hung up. 

“He said he was coming over here, but I don’t see how they’d get here before we—

“Here!” 

Erdene and Poppy both looked over to see Quincey walking towards them carrying several large shopping bags, Tora following behind him like a shadow. 

“How did they get here so fast?” Erdene hissed. “Don’t tell me Daddy gave him a private jet just so he doesn’t have to walk from store to store.”

“I think it’s more likely he just has a second sense when it comes to making me spend money.” Poppy smiled. 

“Please tell me you haven’t bought anything yet.” Quincey panted as he finally reached the two women. He sounded like he had run all the way there. 

“No, we just started looking.” Poppy told him, taking a dress of the rack and examining it. 

“Ugh, no.” Quincy grabbed the dress from Poppy’s hand and put it back. 

“That was pretty!” Poppy protested. 

“Not pretty enough for my father’s party. Look, Poppy, everyone who’s anyone is going to be at this party. You need to look like you just stepped off the runway. You’re not going to be able to do that in any of these dresses.” Quincey grabbed her by the shoulders and guided her towards the more expensive part of the store, although the entire store was expensive to her. Poppy could tell from the way the attendants eyed them up like they were trying to steal something that this was definitely out of her price bracket. 

While Quincey walked up to the attendants to speak to them, Poppy walked over to Tora and reached up on her toes to give him a kiss. “How did you get over here so fast?”

“Quince was already in the mall buying more shit he doesn’t need.” Tora shrugged. “Now he can help you spend money.”

“I’m not spending thousands of dollars on a dress I’m only going to wear once.” Poppy told him. “I’d rather just wear something I already have. I’m sure there’s something in our closet. We could spend the money on something else.” 

“I’m good for it, Pops. Don’t worry.” Tora assured her. 

“But—

“Poppy!” Quincey’s voice made Poppy turn back around to look at her friend. “The ladies are going to pull some dresses for you. We can go back into the dressing room.”

“Didn’t we do that ‘what’s mine is yours’ shit when we got married?” Tora asked her as they followed Quincey back to the dressing room. 

“I don’t think paying for ballgowns was included in our vows.” 

“Of course they are, it’s included in the ‘richer or poorer’.” Quincey came over to the two of them with a smile. “Come on, Poppy, get changed into that robe in there and we can start once they come back with some options.”

“It feels like I’m trying on wedding dresses.” Poppy commented before she walked into the dressing room to do as she was told. She quickly changed into the provided robe and walked back out into the room, sitting next to Tora on the couch. 

“Is it just me, or is Quincey just a little more… _extra_ today?” 

Tora smoothly extracted a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag. Poppy frowned but didn’t say anything. She knew he was stressed, she would allow him this one. “He was drinking at the store we were at before. The party’s stressing him out.”

“Sir, you can’t smoke in here.” The fitting room attendant told Tora with a frown as she came in with some dresses. Tora’s eyes narrowed, daring her to say anything else. Unlike most other people, the attendant didn’t back down, glaring right back at him. 

Quincey stepped between them and flashed her a smile before Tora could say anything that would get them kicked out of the store. Poppy’s eyes widened at the small wad of cash he handed the woman with a bright smile. She would never get used to how nonchalantly Quincey threw around his money. “Be a dear and get us a strawberry juice and a bottle of lambrusco. Make sure it’s expensive and imported.” Quincey winked at her. “And please ignore my friend, we’ll make sure none of the ashes get on the dresses.”

“Y-yes, sir.” The attendants eyes glinted greedily at the money and she rushed off to complete her task.

“If Lambrusco is anything like that sweet swill you drink, just order me champagne.” Erdene frowned. 

“It’s semi-sweet, you philistine. Even someone like you would like it.”

After trying on almost a dozen dresses, Poppy was almost ready to call it a day. They were either too revealing, too tight, or accentuated features that Poppy would rather hide, no matter if Quincey told her she could get shape wear. She didn’t want to be stuffed like a sausage as a party she didn’t even want to be at in the first place. 

“I’m so tired, Quincey.” Poppy sighed. “Can’t we just call it a day? I’m sure I have something that could work.” 

“No, you can’t. Just try on this one.” Quincey held up a blush-colored gown with a full skirt. “I’m sure this is the one.” 

“What the fuck is taking so long?” Tora demanded from outside the stall. 

“Here here!” Erdene called out. 

Poppy sighed and nodded, just to get him off her case. Once he had helped her into the dress and had it zipped, she looked in the mirror and could barely believe it. This had to be it. The neckline was just low enough that it showed off her breasts but Poppy still felt comfortable. The sides of her waist were covered in metallic sequins, spreading out as the skirt flared around her. Poppy resisted the urge to do a twirl. She felt like a princess in this dress.

“This is perfect!” Poppy grinned.

“I’m a genius.” Quincey smiled back, but it disappeared when Poppy started walking towards the door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I want to show Tora.” Poppy frowned. 

“No, you have to wait until the party. Wow factor.” Quincey stated. 

“It’s not her damn wedding dress.” Tora called from outside the dressing room. 

“He’s right.” Poppy told Quincey. “Besides, he saw my wedding dress before we got married.” 

“Please tell me it was at least white.” Quincey pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“No, it was that pink one with the flowers.” 

“If you’re going off of dumbass traditions, Poppy couldn’t have worn white anyway.” Poppy blushed as Erdene laughed. 

“Who _are_ you people?” Quincey demanded. “Okay, once this party is over, you two are getting divorced so you can get remarried. _Properly_.” 

“Over my dead body.” 

* * *

The day of the party came faster than Poppy expected, until she was sitting in the back of the car that had been sent to pick her up in her new dress and matching heels, selected by Quincey. She fiddled with her necklace, worrying again about losing it and the matching earrings somehow through the night. She knew they were expensive, from the velvet box they had been placed in. She had found them in the back seat of the car with a simple note taped to the top in Tora’s handwriting. 

_Wear these_. 

Besides her engagement ring, and now the dress she was in, she had never worn anything this expensive. She hoped she wouldn’t look like a young girl playing dress up, but she guessed if the guests looked anything like the clientele at The Black Swan, there was no doubt about it. 

“We’re here, ma’am.” The driver announced. Poppy waited for the driver to open her door before climbing out and hurrying inside. She tried not to focus on her surroundings, and how much they might be worth. The sheer luxury of this place made Poppy nervous. Knowing her clumsiness, she would probably trip over her dress and break some million-dollar urn. Following the crowd of people, Poppy entered the ballroom and searched the crowd for a familiar face. She could feel people’s eyes on her, like she didn’t belong. Looking back towards the entrance of the ballroom, Poppy wondered if she could slip away and find a library someplace in this house where she could hide until Tora came and found her. She would have left entirely, but she didn’t want Tora getting into any trouble just because she wussed out. She wanted to support her husband, even though it made him piss mad that she had to be here in the first place. 

“Poppy!” She turned and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Quincey coming towards her, the crowd parting before him. He was wearing a snakeskin-patterned tuxedo jacket with slim black pants, standing out from the sea of black-tuxedoed men. As the son of Vincent Balthuman, he could break the dress code however he pleased. 

“You should have texted me to let me know you were here.” Quincey told her as he gave her a hug. He handed her a glass of champagne with a smile. “How scandalous, a woman walking in by herself.”

“I’m a regular harlot.” Poppy rolled her eyes and held up the glass. “Is this telling me I need to start drinking now to make it though the night?”

“It’s highly recommended.” Quincey downed the rest of his glass and handed it to a passing waiter to grab a fresh glass. “At least until my father gets done with his meeting.”

“Is that where Tora is right now?” Poppy asked. She had been expecting him to be waiting for her to get there, but when she didn’t see him near the front door, she guessed he was off doing something for his boss. 

“Darling, who is this?”

Poppy craned her head to look around Quincey to see who the source of the question was. A beautiful blonde woman stood behind him, wearing a deep-cut navy gown that showed off her breasts. Although Poppy could tell she was older, her body hadn’t aged a day past her twenties. Poppy’s eye went to the insanely large rock on her left hand, almost as dazzling as the gold link chain she wore around her neck. She had only seen her in a picture once, but Poppy knew exactly who this was. Mrs. Balthuman. 

“Oh, Mom, this is Poppy, Tora’s wife.” Quincey stepped aside and rested a hand on Poppy’s mid back so his mother could get a proper look. “Poppy, this is my mother, Larissa Balthuman.” 

“It’s so lovely to finally meet you.” Poppy tried not to stiffen as Mrs. Balthuman walked forward and wrapped her arms around her, as if they were old friends. Poppy knew she had nothing to do with the abuse Tora suffered as a child, but she was still married to the perpetrator. Poppy didn’t want to get any closer to the Balthuman’s than Quincey, and that was only because Quincey didn’t act like his father at all. “Tora hardly tells us a thing about you, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

“Tora’s a private person. You shouldn’t be surprised, Mother.”

Mrs. Balthuman waved her hand dismissively at her son. “Go and join your father, Quinceton.” She laced her arm through Poppy’s and held her close. “Come, Poppy, you can come with me into the drawing room with the rest of us while our men talk. I’d love to get to know you better.” Mrs. Balthuman smiled warmly.

“Oh, that’s fine, I can wait out here. I’d hate to intrude.” Poppy would rather wait out in the ballroom than go into a private room with Mrs. Balthuman and all her friends, but the grip she had on Poppy’s arm told her she didn’t have an option. 

“Nonsense. You’re married to Tora, you belong in there with us. I’ll show you there.” Mrs. Balthuman guided her out of the ballroom and across the hallway to a medium-sized room with several large couches, where ladies just as elegant as Mrs. Balthuman sat and gossiped. When they entered, all of them turned to look at Poppy with questioning eyes. 

“Everyone, this is Poppy, Tora’s guest.” Mrs. Balthuman rested her hands on Poppy’s upper arms. “She’ll be joining us while the men discuss business.”

“Tora’s guest, you said, Larissa?” A blonde woman in a navy gown asked. “I thought I’d never see the day.” Mrs. Balthuman guided Poppy to sit to the right of her on one of the couches while Mrs. Balthuman took the arm chair at the head of the circle. _It’s like she’s holding court. As Mr. Balthuman’s wife, I suppose she is_. 

“Tora’s never brought a girl to one of the gatherings.” One of the ladies twittered. “You must be _very_ special, Poppy.”

“Then again, Tora’s never been in a serious relationship before. Could you imagine him settling down? I think hell would freeze over before he gave up one-night stands.” Her companion in the silver dress laughed, making the rest of the ladies laugh.

“Ladies, please. Behave.” Mrs. Balthuman chided. “Your minds live in the gutter, I swear.”

Poppy tuned them out as they continued chattering around her. She sipped on her wine and kept her eyes on the clock, wondering how long the meeting had been going on before she arrived. She hoped it would be over soon; she hadn’t seen Tora all day. He had left the apartment early in the morning before Poppy had even fully woken up, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead before leaving. He had explained in a text later that Balthuman had called him to the mansion to help with preparations for this party. Apparently, besides clan members, Balthuman had also invited all of the government’s high-ranking officials, as well as some clan leaders he was allied with. Poppy hadn’t realized how big of a deal this party was. With Tora gone, she didn’t do much until it was time to get ready, opting to watch a murder mystery marathon on the couch with Rocky instead of doing the hundred other things that needed to be done around the apartment. 

“What I wouldn’t give to be one of Tora’s girls.” The blonde woman’s giggle broke Poppy from her thoughts. “Claude would never need to know. I’d let him take a ride for a night.”

“I’m his wife.” 

The women in the room turned and looked at Poppy. In any other circumstance, she would have withered under this much attention, but this was different. It didn’t matter if she might never be in a room with these women ever again, she needed to put them in their place and let them know in no uncertain terms they were not allowed to talk about _her Tora_ like that. 

She picked up her wine glass and took a small sip, making sure the diamonds on her engagement and wedding rings on her left hand glinted in the light. “Not his latest fling, or this week’s flavor. I’m Mrs. Noyouko. His wife. I’d like you to keep that in mind the next time you participate in talk like that.” She set her gaze on Claude’s woman, staring her down. “He’s spoken for.” 

“Hello, ladies.” Quincey strode into the room, breaking the tension. Poppy shifted, smoothing the skirt of her dress down and flashing one more warning glare at the blonde woman. “I apologize for intruding, Mother, but Father is asking for you.”

“I suppose our fun is over, ladies.” Mrs. Balthuman stood, causing all the other women in the room to stand except for Poppy. “Time to rejoin our men.” 

Poppy breathed a deep sigh of relief once they had left the room, leaving her and Quincey alone. He sat down on the couch next to her, lounging without a care in the world. These gatherings were second-nature to him, he had no reason to be nervous. Poppy, however, was still a bundle of nerves. She had told herself that she would try to stay as much in the background as possible at this party, but after hearing how those women were talking about Tora, she couldn’t help but feel the need to stake her claim. It wasn’t often she felt true jealousy. But surrounded by all of those model-level beautiful women, she couldn’t help but feel a little insecure. It caused her to lash out when she shouldn’t have. 

“Survive your first hen gathering?” Quincey asked. 

“Hopefully my only.” Poppy gave him a weak smile. “Are they all so thirsty for Tora?”

“Pretty much. I didn’t think I’d see your claws come out so quickly, though.” He grinned. “I didn’t know poppies had thorns.”

“Oh, shut up.” Poppy shoved him in the shoulder. “Where’s Tora?”

“He was in the billiards room, the last I saw. Sharch and Deacon are having some sort of competition. Tora asked me to show you where it is.” Quincey stood and offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

Poppy nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the hallway. “How big is this place?” She wondered aloud. 

“If it tells you anything, I got lost when I was four. It took the men a solid three hours to find me.” Quincey told her. 

“And you’re fine living in an apartment now?” 

“Of course I am. Helps me get in touch with my characters, knowing how commoners live.” Before Poppy could chastise him, they stopped just beyond an open doorway. “Tora’s just in there. My dad bitched at me for not being in the ballroom with everyone, so I have to go to rub shoulders. I’ll see you later.” Quincey winked at her and disappeared back the way they came, whistling as he left. 

Poppy took a deep breath and walked into the room as discreetly as she could, spotting Tora easily enough. He sat in the dark corner of the room away from the large group surrounding the billiards table. He was watching the group with disinterest and smoking, but put the cigarette out in the ashtray next to him as soon as he saw Poppy. She smiled and walked towards him, sitting down across his lap with her back facing the large group. Tora placed a gentle kiss on her temple and wrapped his arms around her to hold her close. 

“If you hear about a woman almost strangling one of Mrs. Balthuman’s friends, it wasn’t me.” Poppy told him. 

“Really?” Tora smirked. “What happened?”

“You’re very popular among her circle. Like some sort of sex god.” Poppy traced her fingers along his jaw. “I felt the need to remind them you’re married.” 

“Were you jealous?” Tora asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Hardly.” Poppy rolled her eyes, but the blush in her cheeks gave it away. Tora grinned and moved his hand up her waist and around to her chest, tracing the exposed parts of her breasts with his forefinger. She shivered at his touch, goosebumps following wherever his finger trailed. She shifted higher up in his lap, wanting to get closer to him.

“When can we leave?” Poppy whispered in Tora’s ear. 

“As soon as Quincey does. He should be ready to go in a few hours.”

“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?” Poppy doubted he could do his job with her sitting on him while Tora’s hands were discretely roaming her body. “I don’t want to be a distraction.” 

“Sweetheart, you’d be just as much of a distraction if ya were standing across the room as ya are sitting here in my lap.” Tora whispered, nipping the shell of Poppy’s ear. 

“Tora!” Poppy hissed, smacking him lightly in the chest. 

“No one’s paying attention to us, baby.” Poppy shivered when Tora called her baby. He only did that when he was really turned on, and if the hardness she felt against the side of her thigh was any indication, she definitely was distracting him from his job. She couldn’t help but feel a small rush, that she was the one making this stoic gangster feel this way. 

“Watching or not, someone’s going to notice if your hand is up my dress.” Poppy told him when she felt his hand slowly inching up her inner thigh. Her breath caught in her throat at the feeling of Tora’s cool fingers toying with the edge of her underwear.

“Not facing this way, and not with this much damn fabric.” Tora laid open-mouthed kisses down the side of Poppy’s neck. “Wanna test it out?” 

Poppy bit her lip to keep from gasping when she felt Tora’s fingers at her core, gently pushing aside her underwear to start stroking her clit. She squirmed in his lap, trying to get his hand closer, but Tora brought his other hand down from her back to grip her hip and keep her in place. 

“Damn, you’re already soaked.” Tora kept his lips near Poppy’s ear as he whispered. “Is the thought of me finger-banging you in a room with all these people turning you on?”

“I’m—I’m going to stand up and walk away if you don’t stop that.” Poppy managed to get out without a moan escaping past her lips. 

“If I don’t stop what?” Tora slipped a finger inside of Poppy, gently pumping it in and out of her. “Ya want me to stop this?”

“If you don’t stop talking like that.” Poppy responded. 

“Ya know you love it when I talk to ya like this.” Tora told her. “Especially when my cock is pounding into you, it just makes you even wetter for me. But I bet ya can’t even hear me sometimes with the way you scream when I’m inside you.” He added a second finger and quickened his pace, alternating between moving his fingers and rubbing her clit with his thumb. He leaned closer until his lips were just barely brushing her ear. “I’d like to hear ya scream my name as I fuck you, while you wear those heels and that jewelry, and nothing else.”

“T-Tora.” Poppy moaned quietly, trying to grind her pelvis closer to his hand. “Go faster.”

“Shh.” Tora slowed his movements so Poppy could focus. “Keep quiet, sweetheart. Don’t want to draw attention, then I’d have to stop. You don’t want that, do ya?” 

Poppy thought she was going to draw blood from biting her lip as she shook her head. “I’m c-close.” She warned him. 

“Then come for me, sweetheart.” Tora rubbed hard on her clit and curved his fingers inside her, touching her g-spot. Poppy closed her eyes and saw stars. She was so close, she didn’t know if she could manage to not blow their cover. 

“I don’t know if I can be quiet.” Her words came out as a whine. She opened her legs wider to allow Tora more room. With the skirt of her dress, though, it would go unnoticed. 

“If ya keep quiet, I’ll fuck ya rough and fast just how you like.” Tora promised. “Can ya stay quiet for me?”

Poppy felt another surge of warmth flow to her belly at Tora’s words. She hoped there was some place at this party where he could fulfill his promise. She didn’t think she could wait until they got home.

Poppy buried her face in the space between Tora’s neck and shoulder as she came, biting down on the fabric of his tux jacket to stay quiet while fireworks went off through her body. She felt her fluids flow with her orgasm, running over Tora’s hand. She pulled her head back to watch him as he removed his hand from under her skirt. Tora held his fore and middle finger up to her lips with a raised eyebrow, more a demand than a request. Poppy leaned forward and took his fingers in her mouth, licking his fingers clean before finally releasing them with a quiet _pop_. 

They sat together for a few quiet moments, simply staring at each other. Poppy had an arm around his shoulders and played lightly with the bowtie hanging loose around Tora’s neck with her other hand, coming down off of her high. Tora’s hand ran up and down her side while still holding her to his lap by her thigh. They were in a world of their own. For all they cared, they were the only people in the room. 

Poppy finally broke the silence between them. “So, do I have to wait until we get home for my reward, or is there someplace in this mansion we can disappear to?” She took both sides of his tie and fisted them in her hand, tightening it around his neck to lean him closer to her lips. “I have to admit, I thought of you fucking me with just this jewelry on when I saw it in the car tonight. But if you want me to keep the heels on too, we can do that. I’m sure the red bottoms would look great wrapped around your hips.” 

She pulled back and smiled when Tora’s eyes widened at her words. He was the one that usually talked dirty, but she could tell that from her words, she had awoken something inside of him. It didn’t matter if there was a place in this mansion where they could get down, Tora would _make_ a place for them. “What about a bathroom? I might want to watch us while you fuck me.” 

Without another word, Tora had pushed Poppy off his lap as gently as he could so she was on her feet and stood up after her. He gripped her wrist tightly and pulled her from the room, leading her away from the rooms filled with people laughing and mingling until it was just faint background noise. He led her into a completely different wing of the mansion and up a grand staircase. Poppy tried to take in all her surroundings, having never been in a house this opulent, and she would probably never have this chance again. The halls were paneled with mahogany, the same material as the floors, the board laid in an intricate pattern that matched the rest of the mansion, besides the ballroom they had been in before, which was almost entirely marble, save the domed glass ceiling. Balthuman didn’t even need to dress well to show he had money. He could just show them a picture of one of the many hallways in his home. 

“Where are we going?” Poppy asked as Tora continued to drag her through the cavernous halls of the mansion. He stopped at a corner and held a finger to his lips to silence her while he looked around the corner down the hallway. Poppy stood next to him, looking over her shoulder to see if they were being followed. Was that why Tora had been moving so quickly and gone so far?

“Come on.” Tora took her hand again and pulled her down the hallway, stopping outside one of the wood-paneled doors at the end. He opened it and ushered Poppy inside before stepping into the room after her and closing the door behind them, locking it. Poppy looked around the room, noticing the expensive furnishings and large four-poster bed sitting in the center of the back wall. There was already a fire roaring in the fireplace on one of the side walls, with a pair of slippers sitting nearby. This was obviously someone’s room. Out of all rooms in the house, why did they come here?

Before Poppy could think any further, her mind went blank as Tora grabbed her by her waist and spun her around, locking her in a passionate kiss. She whimpered as Tora bit her lip and guided her back towards the bed until the backs of her legs were pressed against the footboard. He pulled the fabric covering her breasts aside and tested the weight of them in his hands. She arched her back into his touch, holding his head to her with both hands tangled in his hair. “You sure I can’t rip this dress off ya?” He whispered against her skin.

“What would I leave in?” Poppy asked breathlessly as Tora gently took one nipple between his teeth and tugged, his free hand pinching the other and kneading it. Poppy’s eyes rolled back in her head and she let out another moan. The one good thing that came from their mad dash through the house was she was almost certain no one would hear them. 

“I bet my jacket would be long enough.” Tora found the zipper and lowered it with one swift movement. His gentle caresses turned hard as he roughly pushed the dress off of Poppy’s body along with her underwear, lifting her out of the puddle of fabric on the floor and kicking it aside, leaving her in her heels and jewelry like he had promised. He put her back on the floor and stepped back, his eyes raking over her body. At the beginning of their relationship, Poppy used to try to cover up whenever Tora looked at her with that hunger in his eyes, not used to having a gaze like that, or any man’s gaze on her body. Now though, it just made her more aroused and ready for him to make good on his promise. 

“Get on the bed.” Tora ordered, taking his suit jacket off. “On your hands and knees.”

“Can’t I watch the show?” Poppy asked as he began to unbutton his shirt, revealing more of his muscular torso and the tattoos covering his pecs and arms

Tora’s eyes flashed with something dangerous, and she felt her center throb. “Don’t make me ask again.”

Poppy looked at the bed behind her, then looked back at Tora. His eyes narrowed as she walked towards him in defiance. She knew she was playing with fire, but it would just make it more enjoyable for the both of them. Tora liked to take control, but it drove him crazy when she didn’t do as she was told, in the best way. She reached up and pushed his hands aside, taking over unbuttoning his shirt until she pushed it off his shoulders, letting it fall behind them. As soon as her hands touched his belt-buckle, he had his hands wrapped around hers in a vice-like grip. He yanked her closer so they were almost nose to nose, his eyes turning dark as he scanned her face for any sign of actual fear. She could hear him breathing, either from anger or arousal, or a delicious mixture of both. She smiled just slightly to let him know she was still okay, and that was all he needed. 

“I told you to get on the _fucking_ bed.” Tora growled. He let go over her hands and gripped her hips tightly, turning her around and lifting her easily before he dumped her on top of the bed. She followed his previous orders and positioned herself on her hands and knees before she peeked over her shoulder to watch him. She licked her lips as he unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants down his legs, his cock already swollen and fully erect. Poppy locked eyes with him and he walked towards the bed and climbed up on his knees behind her, smoothing his hands over her ass and gripping the flesh tightly. When Poppy tried to shift her hips back to urge his entrance, he held her hips in place with a _tsk_. 

“Stay right there.” Poppy closed her eyes at the feeling of his cock slipping in between her folds, coating him with her arousal before teasing his head at her entrance. “What do you want, Bobby?” She wasn’t sure if he voice would even work at this point, but she knew if she didn’t respond that Tora would continue his torture of her until she finally did. It was a power struggle between the two of them whenever he was like this, and he always ended out on top, no pun intended. 

“I—I want you to fuck me.” She panted as he slowly began entering her. Her bottom half quivered from the way he filled her and had already touched deep inside her with his head. She struggled to remember her own name. 

“Be specific, sweetheart.” Tora almost purred, pulling out and entering just as slowly. “Ya want me to fuck you like this? I could go slower.”

“No!” Poppy exclaimed. “I want…I want you to go faster. Please.”

Without warning, Tora withdrew from her completely and thrust into her roughly with a guttural groan. She instinctively tightened around his cock when he entered her, wanting him closer. She started to cry out but caught herself, not knowing if anyone could be in this part of the house. If she was too loud, they would be able to hear and she and Tora would be caught.

“That’s right, baby.” Tora grunted, sheathing himself fully inside her again and grinding into her ass. “I want to hear you scream.”

“Someone could hear us.” Poppy bit her lip to control her moans. “We’ll get in trouble.”

“The only person you should worry about right now is me, sweetheart.” Tora whispered in her ear. “And you know how I get when you don’t do as your told.” She felt a sudden sharp pain on her as Tora’s hand connected with her ass with a loud _smack_ and cried out from a mixture of pain and pleasure. Tora rubbed the place he hit to soothe the skin before bending down over Poppy.

“I don’t want ya holding back.” Tora grunted in her ear. “I don’t give a shit if anyone hears us, I’ll fuck my wife when I want, where I want.” His voice sent chills down her spine and he snapped his hips harder against hers for emphasis, his grip bruising on her hips. 

Poppy screamed as an orgasm ripped through her body, ricocheting down to her damn fingertips while Tora fucked right through it. Her arms became like jelly and her front half collapsed to the bed. Poppy’s breath came out in gasps, trying desperately to keep her legs from falling down from the sheer power of Tora’s thrusts. 

Tora grabbed Poppy by the base of her throat and lifted her up so her back was pressed to his chest. She melted into his arms, rolling her hips back into his at the new angle. She could already feel another orgasm building in the pit of her stomach. “Did I say you could put your arms down?” Tora rasped, his grip tightening. 

“N-no.” Poppy panted, holding onto his arm for leverage.

“No _what_?” 

“No sir.” Suddenly, he stopped thrusting into her and pulled out. Poppy whimpered from the loss of him inside her. He guided them further up the bed until Poppy was almost flush with the headboard. Tora moved her hands to grip the edge of dark wood to support her weight. 

“When I say keep your arms up, I mean keep your arms up.” Tora whispered in her ear. Without warning, he entered her again, pulling her hips towards him so her back was arched and continuing his punishing pace. “Don’t fuckin’ move.” 

“Y-yes sir.” Poppy closed her eyes and tried to control her release to not give in so quickly after her previous orgasm, but she was only able to hold out for a few more moments before she was screaming Tora’s name. Her arms started to tremble as she struggled to stay upright. All her body wanted to do was lay down, but through the afterglow shrouding her mind, she felt Tora’s arms come up under hers and their fingers lace together on the headboard, helping to support her. 

“I’m right here, sweetheart.” His breathing picked up and his rhythm faltered, his hips stuttering again. With a few last hard thrusts, Tora emptied himself inside Poppy with a loud groan, biting down on her shoulder. She could feel Tora’s hot pants on the back of her neck as he struggled to catch his breath. 

“Fuck.” Tora managed out. “I gotta get you home.”

Poppy laughed and reached behind, gently running her fingers through his hair. “I thought we couldn’t leave until Quincey left.”

“Fuck Quincey.”

Something glinted in the corner of Poppy’s eye, making her look over to the bedside table. It was a picture frame, the glass reflecting the light of the fire from the opposite side of the room. Upon closer inspection, she saw a very familiar-looking family smiling back at her. Her face paled as the realization dawned on her. 

“Tora…is this Mr. Balthuman’s bedroom?!” 

* * *

Poppy's dress, shoes, jewelry, and what I think her engagement ring would look like (The style is called Secret Garden, y'all!)


	6. Under Construction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first one-shot I've done in a while, as well as the first fluffy thing I've written in a few months 😂 I hope you all like it!
> 
> A huge thank you to Trychtopus for beta-reading this chapter, and to the chat ladies for giving me this idea. Love you all 🤗

“Darn it!” 

Tora looked around the balcony door from where he was sitting and playing his guitar when he heard Poppy yell in frustration from the small kitchen. A moment later, she appeared at the sliding door, herding Rocky out of the kitchen and closing it behind her. The dog whined and tried to get back inside by scratching at the frame, but when that didn’t work, he padded out to Tora and laid on his feet with a deep sigh.

“I know I'm your second choice, but ya don’t have to make it so obvious.” Rocky huffed when Tora gently pushed him off to walk to the kitchen and check on Poppy. He watched her move around the small space through the glass door, her jerky movements indicative of her tempestuous mood. She seemed fine when she got home from work, if not a little quieter than normal. 

He walked into the kitchen and closed the door behind him before leaning against the wall. After watching her silently stew for a few minutes, he walked up to her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. He felt the tension in her muscles melt away as he pulled her against him, resting his chin on the top of her head. She leaned back into his touch and let out a deep sigh that sounded like she had been holding in for a while. Tora pulled her hair out of its bun and pulled it all over one shoulder, exposing her skin as he bent down to kiss her neck.

“If you’re mad, you don’t have to take it out on the dog.” Tora murmured.

“I’m not—I’m not mad.” Poppy took another deep breath. “Just frustrated.”

“Somethin’ happen at work?”

“No. I just didn’t realize how small my apartment was until now. It was fine when it was just me, but with all our stuff, it feels more cramped now. Maybe we should move.”

“You like that balcony though.” Tora wasn’t going to say it out loud, but he didn’t like the idea of moving out of the apartment. It was one of the only places he truly felt relaxed, as well as the first place he entertained the idea of living a life outside of the gang—a life that now included the biggest nerd he’d ever met stretching up on her toes, gently tugging on his neck to make him bend down so she could kiss him. 

“I’d give up the balcony if it meant we could have some more space. It might not be too bad.” She let out a small squeak when Tora gripped her legs and lifted her up so she was sitting on the counter, putting them almost at eye-level with each other. “We could move closer to downtown, where you were before. It would make my commute easier.”

“You just want more space for plants.” Tora raised one eyebrow at her as she giggled. 

“Is that so bad?” Poppy smiled. “It’s good for air quality.”

“Whatever you say, Bobby.” He bent down and kissed her neck, gently pulling her t-shirt up enough so he could run his hands along the soft skin above her waistband. He relished Poppy’s little hums when he moved further up her torso, stopping just under her breasts and finding she wasn’t a bra. _Fuck me_. 

“Tora, I have to finish dinner.” Poppy protested weakly while bringing one hand up to tangle in his hair as his kisses traveled lower down her body. 

“Let’s order out.” She helped him by lifting her hips off the counter when he started pulling off her shorts. Tora tossed them haphazardly somewhere behind him, meeting Poppy in an open-mouthed kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gasped when Tora grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to the counter’s edge. Their hands fumbled together as they both tried to undo his belt buckle while still not breaking their kiss, only doing so when Poppy yanked Tora’s shirt off to run her hands down his abs.

Just as Tora took the edge of Poppy’s shirt in his hands to pull it over her head, loud barking just outside the door to the kitchen made both of them jump and look towards the intrusion. Rocky stood at the door, staring at both of them and looking thoroughly pissed that both of his owners had left him by himself. They looked at each other for a moment before Poppy burst out laughing, leaning forward to hide her face in Tora’s shoulder. 

He growled and leaned down to pick up Poppy’s discarded shorts to hand them back to her before going to the kitchen door. Even with the barrier removed as the door was finally opened, Rocky stood looking at them for a moment longer before turning around and walking back towards the balcony. 

“I wouldn’t have agreed to the dog if I’d known he was going to be such a fucking cockblock.” Tora frowned and turned back to Poppy, now pulling her hair back up into a bun. 

“Privacy would be nice too.” She walked up to Tora and wrapped her arms around his waist, placing a kiss over his heart. “Reconsidering the move now? I bet the doors on bedrooms are fantastic in a different part of the city.” 

“Don’t tempt me, sweetheart.”

* * *

_A few days later…_

Poppy frowned when she arrived back at her apartment after work and saw several large construction trucks parked in front of the building, taking up most of the spots outside. Not that she had a car to begin with, but she knew if they were doing some much needed construction on the ancient building, she wouldn’t be able to take a nap like she had hoped. 

She passed several of the workers as she climbed the stairs up to her apartment. She swore she had seen some of them before, but none of them acknowledged her more than a polite head nod. When she finally reached her floor, she found the workers were coming from her apartment. Her stomach sank as she thought about everything that could have gone wrong. The building had horrible plumbing, had one of the pipes burst in her apartment? 

She rushed into her apartment and immediately stopped short. All the walls, including the wall that separated her apartment and the apartment next door, were gone. All the furniture and their belongings had disappeared as well. Mrs. Haru definitely wasn’t behind this. She would have at least called Poppy before doing anything this drastic. 

“What’s going on?” Poppy demanded. 

The rest of the crew in the apartment turned to look at her after her outburst. “Boss, your girl is here!” One of them yelled before they all continued working. 

Poppy looked over and saw Tora coming toward her, stepping through the remaining framing separating the two apartments. She struggled to stay focused when she saw he was wearing his black t-shirt that clung to his muscles like a second skin. She felt like she needed a drink. The AC must be out too. She felt like she was on fire the second she looked down and saw a tool belt slung low across his hips. 

“Where is all our stuff? Why is that wall missing?” Poppy questioned him when she regained her thought processes. She spun in a small circle and noticed Rocky was nowhere to be found. “Where’s our dog?!”

“Pops, it’s fine. Alice has him.” Tora walked up to her and rested a hand on her hip. “We’ll get him tonight.”

“Tora, you can’t do this! We just rent, we’re not allowed to even hang anything with nails, let alone knock down a wall!” Poppy protested. “Even if we rented the apartment next door, we couldn’t knock down the whole wall!”

“Huh.” Tora put his hands on his hips and looked around. “Good thing I bought the building then.”

Poppy balked at him for several moments. “You what?” She finally squeaked out. 

“I bought the building.” Tora said it like he said he had just bought a new pair of shoes. “Now we don’t have to move.”

“Tora, we could have just moved to another apartment in the building. They have bigger apartments.” She looked up at him. “This is too much.”

“Will ya just let me do this?” Tora frowned. “‘Sides, the wall’s already gone. Not much you can do now unless you want to have two kitchens.”

“Or you could just put the wall back up.” Poppy frowned right back.

Tora rolled his eyes and removed Poppy’s bag from her, dropping it next to them before grabbing her by the shoulders. “Come on.” 

He pushed her further into the apartment, showing just how much the crew had already gotten done in the time Poppy had left to go to work until now. There was now one large empty space where her apartment used to be. The space was interrupted by framing that made little sense to Poppy which extended from her apartment into the apartment next door, which she supposed was now their apartment too. 

“The contractor drew everything up. The front door moves to the left, kitchen moves over there with space for an actual table, bedroom and bathroom at the back, bedroom and a room we can do whatever the fuck we want with over here, and living room.” Tora moved her around the apartment, pointing out the general areas of where everything would go. “Everything should be done by the end of the week.”

“When were you going to tell me about all this?” Poppy turned around and crossed her arms while she looked at him. “Or did you plan on just keeping me away until it was done?” 

“When ya got home tonight and didn’t see the bed.” Tora smirked. “We can stay at my old apartment until it’s ready”

“I don’t know what to say.” Poppy sighed. “This is too much, Tora. You bought up the whole building! We just could have moved, it would have been easier, and less expensive.”

Tora ignored her and grabbed her wrist to pull her into the other apartment. “One more thing.” He stopped just short of the balcony of the adjoining apartment and pointed out the framing for a room just off it. 

“What’s this?” Poppy asked, craning her neck to look up at him. 

“An art room with the other balcony. So you don’t have to go up to the roof every time.” Tora pulled her into his side and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Gives you more space too.”

“Tora…” Poppy trailed, stepping inside the room. She turned slowly, taking it all in. Her mind was already running a mile a minute, thinking about how she could decorate the space and how much more she could do with this much room. She turned back to face Tora and saw he was watching her expectantly, a hint of worry in his features. 

“You like it?” He asked. “We could always do something else.”

“I love it!” Poppy ran forward and threw her arms around his waist. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” She felt his hand smoothing over her hair before he kissed the top of her head. “You mad about the apartment?”

“I wish you would have told me first.” Poppy pulled back just enough to look up at him. “But now this means we can go shopping together to pick stuff out.”

“Can’t ya do that by yourself?” He frowned. “I’m not good with that shit.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” She hooked her fingers in the belt loops of his jeans to pull him as close as she could. “You know, you look really cute with that tool belt on.” 

Tora smirked, allowing his dimples to peek out as he leaned down and rested his forehead against Poppy’s. “Yeah?”

Poppy nodded and licked her lips. “Too bad all these guys are here, and our bed is gone.”

“The counters in the kitchen are still there.” Tora scooped Poppy up in his arms. “We can make up for getting interrupted by the dog.” 

Poppy giggled as Tora yelled for all the men to take a break and get out. It was a little early to break in their “new” apartment, but she wouldn’t complain. They could always go out later to find more things for the apartment they could break in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Until next time~


End file.
